Saturday, March 31 2018 [38034 miles]
Wheel removed
The rear tire on the GS is just over 8K miles old. It was installed during the 30K mile service. I’m just at the wear bars. I want to replace it before the ride to Paso Robles next weekend. Today is the day. I started by preparing the tire changing stand and removing the wheel from the bike.
Almost at wear bars
Warming in the sun
That’s the old tire on a dirty rim. The new tire is sitting in the sun. Warm tires install easier than cold tires. The dirty rim will be mostly cleaned as part of the job. Tire change time is about the only time the spoked rims are cleaned.
Ready to break the bead
Rim cleaning
New tire mounted
As is often the case it took me longer to get the rims cleanish than it did to remove the old tire and mount the new. Once I got the new tire mounted I noticed the tire weight mark. Doh! I’m used to tires that don’t have them. I took the time to move the mark close to the valve stem. It probably doesn’t make any difference as I balanced the rim with tire off last tire change. Any out of balance condition should be 100% due to the tire.
When I checked balance it was slightly off – but not off enough to bother adding additional weights. I put the tire back on the bike.
Ready to ride
The wheel is back on the bike and the bike is ready to ride. It will get its test ride on the way to breakfast, tomorrow. After breakfast the tires should be broken in enough to enjoy the twisties.